TECO Breaks Ground on $700 Million Project in Polk

Wednesday

Apr 9, 2014 at 6:49 PM

A $700 million expansion of Tampa Electric Co.'s Polk Power Station will bring 500 new construction jobs to the local economy during the next two years and environmental benefits with local and potentially global impacts.

By KEVIN BOUFFARDTHE LEDGER

MULBERRY | A $700 million expansion of Tampa Electric Co.'s Polk Power Station will bring 500 new construction jobs to the local economy during the next two years and environmental benefits with local and potentially global impacts."This is another great event that will contribute to the economic development of Polk County," said County Commissioner Ed Smith, one of about 100 people at the Wednesday ground-breaking ceremonies at the Power Station south of Mulberry. "The future of Polk County is so bright, we need to be wearing sunglasses."The expansion, scheduled for completion in January 2017, will increase the efficiency of the station's four natural gas power plants by redirecting waste steam into power generation, TECO officials said. That will generate another 450 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 100,000 homes.TECO serves 69,000 customers in Auburndale, Eagle Lake, Lake Alfred, Mulberry, Polk City and Winter Haven.Company officials also touted an innovative $110 million reclaimed water project scheduled to begin operating this summer. It was built in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which contributed $41 million toward the construction.Under a 30-year supply agreement signed with the city of Lakeland, the TECO plants will pump wastewater to a municipal treatment plant 15 miles away, said Cherie Jacobs, a company spokeswoman. Treated wastewater will be pumped back to the Power Station for use in electricity generation.Once the system begins operating, it will initially supply TECO with 5 million gallons per day in reclaimed water, she said. During the next 10 to 15 years, the system could be expanded to 17 million gallons per day, or about 70 percent of the station's water use.Part of that expansion includes adding the city of Mulberry and other southwest Polk areas to the system next year, which will increase capacity to 8 million gallons per day, said Susanna Martinez Tarokh, a Swiftmud spokeswoman.The water project will conserve the area's water supplies and reduce nutrient discharges into public waterways, Robert Beltran, Swiftmud executive director, said at the groundbreaking ceremony."These projects are crucial to improving our environmental footprint and energy supplies," Thomas Hernandez, TECO vice president of energy supply, said at the ceremony.The event also celebrated a third project aimed at improving TECO energy production and environmental stewardship.RTI International, a research institute in Durham, N.C., in January completed construction of a $168 million demonstration plant at the Power Station site that could make coal-based electricity production more environmentally friendly and improve the efficiency of current technology.The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more popularly known as President Obama's economic stimulus plan, financed construction of the pilot plant, which is scheduled to begin operations this month."This pilot represents exactly what the Recovery Act is meant to do ­— release new technology," said S. Julio Friedmann, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Clean Coal at the U.S. Department of Energy. "What happens here opens up a world of possibilities."TECO agreed to host the demonstration plant because its first plant at the Power Station, which opened in 1996, uses coal-gasification technology. The Energy Department also contributed funding toward building that TECO plant.The RTI pilot culminates a 20-year research effort on the new technology, said CEO Wayne Holden.One drawback of the current technology is that very hot "syngas" used by the power plant must be cooled down before extracting sulfur, an environmentally harmful contaminant, said David Denton, RTI senior director of business development. The extracted sulfur goes toward producing sulfuric acid sold for industrial purposes.While RTI's new technology removes both sulfur and carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, the syngas is still hot, he said."Our technology is also cheaper than traditional technology," said Denton, who estimated a 10 percent to 15 percent savings on the cost of producing electricity. "You lower the cost of generating electricity by 10 (percent) to 15 percent, your power bill just went down 10 (percent) to 15 percent."The RTI process also increases the efficiency of sulfuric acid production and removes about 90 percent of carbon dioxide, currently vented into the atmosphere, he said.RTI and other researchers are exploring ways to use the captured carbon dioxide in other products or storing it to prevent release into the atmosphere, Denton said. Until then, the captured carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere, resulting in no increased in emissions.The pilot plant, which will operate to June 2015, will demonstrate the feasibility of scaling up the technology by 10 times or more for use at a power plant, he said."We believe this project is a trifecta, a win-win-win," said Gordon Gillette, TECO president. "It's a win for the economy; it's a win for our customers; and it's a win for the environment."

[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or 863-401-6980. ]